September 16, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 148 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session
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EXECUTIVE SESSION; Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 148
(Senate - September 16, 2019)
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[Pages S5488-S5490] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] EXECUTIVE SESSION ______ EXECUTIVE CALENDAR The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will report. [[Page S5489]] The legislative clerk read the nomination of John Rakolta, Jr., of Michigan, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the United Arab Emirates. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio. Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. United Auto Workers Strike Mr. BROWN. Today I hope my colleagues will join me in standing in solidarity with thousands of UAW workers in Ohio and around the country. Workers are going without their paychecks today because they are demanding General Motors respect the work they do which has made this company so successful. All workers have the right to stand up for fair pay and benefits, for better working conditions, and for a voice in their company. Let's be clear. The autoworkers, shall we say, are the engine behind GM's success. GM wouldn't be making a dime of profit without the workers who actually make their cars and trucks. Autoworkers stood up and made sacrifices to help GM when times were tough. The Presiding Officer was a Member of the House then, and I was a Member of the Senate. We saw what happened during the rescue of the auto industry and how much those workers gave up to save this industry. We remember the depths of the recession. We remember when President Obama took office as 800,000 were losing their jobs the first month and 700,000 the second month until, with the auto rescue, House Democrats, with President Obama, turned this economy around. We have seen, literally, economic growth each quarter over the last 10 years. This was, in large part, because so many workers, like the UAW workers, were willing to give up something at the bargaining table. In some cases, clearly, some people in this town wanted to abandon that company. Now that times are better, all the workers are asking for is their fair share. So far, GM has not treated these workers as the critical partners they are in our auto industry. Look at what GM has done in my State. Look at what they did in Lordstown, OH. The company shut down its most productive plant in North America, by GM's own measurements. The Lordstown plant near Youngstown, OH, as recently as 2\1/2\ years ago--back during the Obama administration--had 4,500 workers working there. Even though President Trump said: Don't sell your homes; these jobs are coming back, they have been laid off--hundreds of workers, 4,500 over the last couple years. At the same time, GM announced they were going to build the Chevy Blazer in Mexico. GM could retool that Lordstown plant, and they could build the Blazer in Ohio. They could put some of their electric vehicles in the Lordstown plant in Ohio. We know they have plenty of money to work with. They earned higher than expected profits in the first quarter of this year. President Trump's tax cuts for the rich gave huge amounts of tax breaks to General Motors. Much of the money went to General Motors' executives. All these workers are asking for is to share in those profits, have a voice in their company. GM made the decision to close Lordstown and other plants around the country with no input from the workers who earned those profits for that company. Now workers are standing up and fighting for increased investments in their local communities. I spoke this week with Gary Jones, the international president of the United Auto Workers, about Lordstown and bringing these jobs back. That is what they are trying to win at the bargaining table. We know strikes are always a last resort for workers. My wife grew up in Ashtabula, OH. Her dad carried a union card, Utility Workers of America. He did maintenance for that plant for more than 30 years. Twice when she was growing up they went on strike. She knows, as workers know, they never get back what they lose in a strike. So when they strike, it is when their backs are against the wall. The wife of one GM worker posted online this week: ``I can only pray this strike is short.'' These workers want to do their jobs. They want to work. They don't want to be on the picket line. They want to reach a solution that honors their work. GM needs to agree to a contract that honors the dignity of work and recognizes autoworkers, the communities, and the families who are affected by this and who helped drive the success of the auto industry in Ohio and across the country. Healthcare Mr. President, once again, the Trump administration is trying to take healthcare away from people. I will never forget. I was sitting at this desk on the Senate floor the night when Senators Murkowski, Collins, and McCain voted against repealing the Affordable Care Act. I watched my colleagues--all of whom have good health insurance--all of us have good health insurance because of taxpayers. I watched my colleagues, one after another after another, vote to take health insurance away from millions of people. There are 900,000 people in my State alone who have insurance now because of the Affordable Care Act. This time, the Trump administration is trying to pull funding from health facilities that tell the truth to their patients--facilities like Planned Parenthood--that nearly 100,000 Ohioans rely on. They are blocking title X funding for any healthcare organization that actually gives patients medically relevant information and the full range of healthcare options. We know who makes these decisions. I hate to say it this way, but it is mostly White men in Washington, and they have very serious consequences for Ohio women. This month, two Planned Parenthood clinics in Cincinnati announced they will have to close their doors. This will be devastating for so many Southwest Ohio women. It will mean they have fewer options for healthcare services they need, including preventive care like cancer screenings and STI testing and birth control. It will mean many women won't be able to see the doctors they rely on and trust. A student in Cincinnati named Caroline--who said we can use her first name--talked to a local reporter about what this decision means for her. She said: I have a very close relationship with my provider. There's a lot of trust there that's been built over the years. But now, because of this President, she is not going to be able to see that doctor anymore--to what purpose other than playing politics? I got a letter from another woman in Cincinnati, who wrote: As someone who lost her grandmother to uterine cancer in March, I know how important it is for women to have access to the healthcare services that Planned Parenthood provides. Women have the right to make informed decisions about their own bodies and to have access to examinations that can help save their lives. That came from a woman in Cincinnati. We know Planned Parenthood provides these exams and tests. These clinics are often the only places that many women and some men have to turn. They either can't afford somewhere else, or they live too far away from other healthcare providers to have any other real option. Last year, the West Side clinic that is closing in Cincinnati performed more than 6,900 STI tests. The Springdale clinic that is closing performed more than 6,300 tests. Another woman from Cincinnati wrote to say that her 30-year-old daughter has an advanced degree, but her income is ``below poverty level,'' and she relies on Planned Parenthood for her care. Does this mean she won't get care? It probably does. It means she can't afford to go anywhere else. She will just go without care, and we know what can then happen to someone. The mother of the 30-year-old daughter said: ``Now she will be hard-pressed to find a provider that will take her for checkups, to receive birth control and more.'' The assault on women's healthcare isn't just coming from the Trump administration; they are encouraging rightwing State legislatures all over the country. Over the past few years, we have seen State legislatures notably--including my State, unfortunately, Ohio--making it harder and harder for clinics to operate and provide those preventive services. They [[Page S5490]] cut funding, they increase redtape, they rail against bureaucrats and bureaucracy, but they make it harder with more redtape. They come up with rule after unnecessary rule to dissuade young women from coming to these clinics. These rules aren't really about patient health; they are about closing health clinics. Again, who made these laws? It is always the same. It is men who don't listen, men who don't understand how women's bodies' work. It is men who don't understand how preventive care, like birth control, works. It is time for old White men in Washington and in courtrooms to stop trying to take away women's healthcare. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. Cloture Motion The PRESIDING OFFICER. Pursuant to rule XXII, the Chair lays before the Senate the pending cloture motion, which the clerk will state. The legislative clerk read as follows: Cloture Motion We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of John Rakolta, Jr., of Michigan, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the United Arab Emirates. Mitch McConnell, David Perdue, John Cornyn, John Barrasso, Mike Crapo, John Thune, Tim Scott, John Hoeven, Shelley Moore Capito, Kevin Cramer, John Boozman, Steve Daines, Richard Burr, James E. Risch, Roy Blunt, Thom Tillis, Martha McSally. The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on the nomination of John Rakolta, Jr., of Michigan, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the United Arab Emirates, shall be brought to a close? The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk called the roll. Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Alexander), the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz), The Senator from Mississippi (Mrs. Hyde-Smith), the Senator from Louisiana (Mr. Kennedy), the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Risch), the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Roberts), the Senator from Utah (Mr. Romney), the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey), and the Senator from Mississippi (Mr. Wicker). Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Alexander) would have voted ``yea.'' Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Colorado (Mr. Bennet), the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker), the Senator from New York (Mrs. Gillibrand), the Senator from California (Ms. Harris), the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Klobacher), the Senator from Washington (Mrs. Murray), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Schatz), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Ms. Warren) are necessarily absent. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber desiring to vote? The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 55, nays 27, as follows: [Rollcall Vote No. 282 Ex.] YEAS--55 Barrasso Blackburn Blunt Boozman Braun Burr Capito Cassidy Collins Coons Cornyn Cotton Cramer Crapo Daines Enzi Ernst Fischer Gardner Graham Grassley Hassan Hawley Hoeven Inhofe Isakson Johnson Jones King Lankford Lee Manchin McConnell McSally Moran Murkowski Murphy Paul Perdue Peters Portman Rounds Rubio Sasse Scott (FL) Scott (SC) Shaheen Shelby Sinema Stabenow Sullivan Tester Thune Tillis Young NAYS--27 Baldwin Blumenthal Brown Cantwell Cardin Carper Casey Cortez Masto Duckworth Durbin Feinstein Heinrich Hirono Kaine Leahy Markey Menendez Merkley Reed Rosen Schumer Smith Udall Van Hollen Warner Whitehouse Wyden NOT VOTING--18 Alexander Bennet Booker Cruz Gillibrand Harris Hyde-Smith Kennedy Klobuchar Murray Risch Roberts Romney Sanders Schatz Toomey Warren Wicker The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 55, the nays are 27. The motion is agreed to. The majority leader is recognized. Order of Procedure Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, the postcloture time on the Rakolta nomination expire at noon on Tuesday, September 17; further, that if cloture is invoked on the Howery nomination, the postcloture time expire at 3:30 p.m., and if either of the nominations are confirmed the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; finally, that notwithstanding rule XXII, following disposition of the Howery nomination, the Senate vote on the cloture motions for the Destro, McIntosh, and Callanan nominations. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________
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